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Limb & Spinal Major 
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TITLE |
Born
on the Fourth of July (1987) |
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DISABILITY |
Limb
Wheelchair |
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NOTES |
After the
true story of Ron Kovic a veteran of Vietnam now in a wheelchair.
Considered one of the defining films of the Vietnam war
and its aftermath. |
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About the
climb back from despair at discovering your body is no longer
what it was; about doing something to change attitudes
towards people like yourself; about Tom Cruise, superstar,
showing you can act without standing up. This film is about making big statements
(contrast 'Coming Home') about American angst re the
Vietnam war. It is a film about consequences, mistakes by Kovic, by the government; about catastrophic physical
injury and the mental repercussions; about long term
hospitalisation; about a nation trying to bury you so you wish you were
dead; about hospitals which treat you on a cost basis; about
turning self-hatred outwards; about sex when you're
impotent; about eventually acting politically. |
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Everything
is handled well which makes this a very good, |
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But this
film should have been made 15 years earlier |
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(apparently
Stone tried) then it might have helped bring about |
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a change of
attitude towards disabled vets rather than be an |
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instrument
of catharsis for its audience. |
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Notes
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